Surge in informal votes blamed on language

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The Australian Electoral Commission will investigate why so many
people cast informal votes at the federal election.

Western Sydney recorded the highest number of informal votes -
in many seats, more than double the national average of 5.18 per
cent.

In the seat of Greenway, more than one in 10 voters returned
ballot papers that were blank, incorrectly completed, had messages
written on them or were spoiled in some other way.

The electorate, which includes Blacktown, was held by the ALP
from its creation in 1984 but fell to the Liberal Party's Louise
Markus on October 9.

Ms Markus won the seat with a 7 per cent swing to the Liberal
Party; the informal vote was 6.79 per cent higher than in the 2001
election.

The Electoral Commission is planning to survey the informal vote
and will start soon.

Overall, 639,851 Australians cast informal votes in the
election, which was 5.18 per cent of all votes. In the 2001
election, 4.82 per cent voted informally.

However, in Sydney the informal vote was even higher, with 13
seats recording the highest rates of informal votes in the
country.

These ranged from 11.83 per cent in Greenway to 7.35 per cent in
the south-western seat of Banks. Ten of the 13 were held by Labor,
including Mark Latham's seat of Werriwa.

By contrast, the seats with the lowest rates of informal voting
were mostly Liberal-held seats in Melbourne.

The electorate of Higgins, held by the Treasurer, Peter
Costello, recorded the lowest informal vote at 2.76 per cent.

A study by the commission of the informal votes recorded in the
2001 federal election examined possible reasons.

These included a wish to record a political protest; the number
of candidates to choose from on the ballot paper; the number of
voters not fluent in English; the number of voters aged 80 and
above; and the number of voters with a low level of education.

However, the study concluded that the main factor was whether
voters were fluent in English.

Before the 2004 election, the commission conducted education
sessions for those who struggle with the language.

But its 2001 survey concluded that "regardless of the amount of
education and political campaigning, the voter must have more than
a basic understanding of the English language to vote
effectively".

The study also found that Australia's unusual voting system may
be difficult for voters from other countries not proficient in the
English language.